Dunsmore v. Ralston Purina Co.

• Decision Date: 02 January 1940
• Citation: Dunsmore v. Ralston Purina Co., 90 N.H. 470, 10 A.2d 665 (N.H. 1940)
• Parties: DUNSMORE v. RALSTON PURINA CO.
• Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court

10 A.2d 665

DUNSMORE

v. RALSTON PURINA CO.

Supreme Court of New Hampshire. Grafton.

Jan. 2, 1940.

Transferred from Superior Court, Grafton County; Young, Judge.

Case by George E. Dunsmore against the Ralston Purina Company for injuries.Verdiet for defendant.Transferred on plaintiff's exceptions to denial of his motion to set aside the verdict.

Judgment on the verdict.

Case, to recover for injuries alleged to have been sustained by the plaintiff on January 12, 1938, in a collision between his automobile and the defendant's motor truck.Trial by jury and verdict for the defendant.Transferred by Young, J., on the plaintiff's exception to the denial of his motion to set aside the verdict"because it was against the evidence, against the weight of the evidence, against the law, and against the law and the evidence."

The material facts are stated in the opinion.

Alvin F. Wentworth, of Plymouth, for plaintiff.

Norris Cotton of Lebanon, and Atlee Zellers, of Woodsville, for defendant.

MARBLE, Justice.

The accident occurred near the intersection of Main and Warren Streets in Plymouth at about 9:30 o'clock in the evening.It was snowing and the road was icy.The plaintiff was driving easterly on Warren Street and the defendant's truck was proceeding south on Main Street.The plaintiff testified that he brought his car to a complete stop before entering the intersection and that as he started forward, intending to turn north, he saw the lights of the approaching truck.He did not wait for the truck to pass, however, but "cut right straight across" Main Street to the east lane of cement and, when he saw that an accident was imminent, drove onto the sidewalk, where the collision took place.

The driver of the truck testified that he saw the plaintiff's car and assumed that it would halt at the stop sign erected at the intersection, that it did not stop but "kept creeping out into the street," that he applied his brakes but that they did not hold because of the ice, and that he then swerved sharply to the left in an attempt to avoid striking the car.

The plaintiff declared that the driver of the truck as soon as the accident occurred admitted that he was "absolutely in the wrong, and to blame."The driver denied making any such statement.

The case is one involving the usual conflict of testimony (seeMurphy v. Winter, 87 N.H. 481, 482, 173 A. 793;Bissonnette v. Cheverette, 87 N.H. 211, 212, 176 A. 285), and the finding of the trial court as to the weight of the evidence is...